The End of Our Rights

As Americans, we know our rights. Nothing is more precious to us in the world than the rights and freedoms that we hold dear. Those rights were fought for and hard earned. As Americans, we desire to live our lives to the fullest and use our rights to the fullest. But are we willing to sacrifice our rights for others?

You see as I have lived more of life, I have found that we as Americans sometimes get so concerned with OUR right that we fail to think of others. We think of our right to say what we want, yet we ignore the right of another to privacy. We think of our right to publish what we want on our social media, but do we truly value our relationships with others when considering what we will post? This is just not Americans though. 

This is Christians. 

We exalt our right to wear something but don’t think about the person who may be tempted to sin by just looking at us. We exalt our right to listen to whatever we want but don't think about the person who associates what we are listening to with the sinful actions of his past. We, too exalt our right to speak our minds but do not think of the reputation that we are giving to Christ by running our mouths. 

When will we learn? When will our relationships with our brothers in Christ become more important than personal right? When will the name of Christ become our priority in life, rather than a petty feud over what we're putting out on our social media? Have we become so much like the world that these things mean nothing to us?

We have a perfect example of this in Jesus Christ. He gave up His rights to come here to earth. What were His rights? How about Heaven's throne, the holiness of God, the praise and adoration of the angels. And what did He give that up for? He left Heaven's throne for a Roman cross. He left the holiness of God to have that same God turn His back. He left the praise and adoration of the angels for the mockery of men.

I write this today from my heart. I am calling for believers everywhere to have the mind of Christ in this (Philippians 2). Sacrifice your right for your relationship with Christ to grow stronger. Sacrifice what you feel you deserve to exalt His name. Give of yourself to help your Christian brothers grow. 


PHOTO CREDITS: https://captainjamesdavis.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/usconstitution.jpg